Tikhtak

Life in Pakistan

  While our focus for being here is for a family wedding and to spend time with family, there are many other things going on around. Last week we experienced the sight of fighter jets flying over Lahore as a sign of protection in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Everybody stopped and looked up, so you knew it was not a normal sight. That tension continues to simmer but it is nothing compared to the day to day struggle people are having with constant load shedding (power cuts). In Lahore there are up to 14 hours of power cuts a day with it up to 18 hours in rural areas. It is incredibly disruptive because you get an hour of power and then one or two hours of no power, which also cuts the water supply as well. It seems this is caused by a limited water supply being allowed to flow from rivers in India yet a further source of tension. Having said this, that the candle lit atmosphere has been very Christmassy and is a great felling as everyone chats together in the dark waiting for the power to return.

It has been nice to spend another Christmas in Pakistan as the last one was at the same time as our wedding. Having been to a few nativities I was in the mood and although in the country Christmas day was more a holiday for the founding father of Pakistan, the Christians are focused on Christmas. In the morning we went to the Urdu service at the cathedral. There was a lot of security as ever but also a film crew stopped us and asked us what is the meaning of Christmas. I think Irfana of course gave the best response talking about very directly about Jesus and salvation. After the service we went to visit Irfana’s sister’s grave and her auntie’s grave who recently passed away. The graveyard was full of other Christians visiting their loved ones. It seems that this is a Christmas tradition, which focuses everyone’s attention clearly on the baby Jesus, born to die and rise again. The rest of the day we spent with family and ate a lot as usual.

Saturday was a special day for Irfana and myself as we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. As the whole country was also commemorating the anniversary of Benizir Bhutto’s death everything was closed and with various rallies going on we chilled at home. In the evening it was nice to invite family over for a meal.

Yesterday we attended the last function of Irfana’s cousins wedding. It started last Wednesday with a Mehndi. This is a sad affair for the bride as she leaves her family but a celebration for the groom’s side as she joins his. After a days rest we had the wedding celebration and then last night the Valima, where the boy’s family puts on a big celebration. Zara absolutely loved the whole affair, dressing up in Shelwar Kameez, with bangles and a dupata (scarf). She spent the whole time running around with all the other children and dancing to the music thumping out.

The Nativity in Lahore

  We arrived in Lahore on Tuesday and barely had our feet touched down and we were off to a nativity. It seems that the missions schools prepare for this special occasion all year round. Irfana's cousin was to play a wiseman in her old schools nativity, which seemingly has been putting it on for over 125 years. It was an impressive performance with a dazzling set and everyone fully costumed. A full choir accompanied the action and the lines were shouted with great precision and gusto.

The theme of the play was peace and this was particularly relevant at a time where Pakistan and her neighbours areexperiencing the opposite. Also impressive was the command of English and theirr accents! The singing could have been from any choir in the UK. It was also a good experience for the cast of mainly Muslims to experience a re-enacting of the Christmas story as close to first hand as is possible.

However I couldn't help thinking what a Pakistani nativity might look like with dolky drums and a Mary in a Shalwar Kameeze! It seems to me that this will be a challenge for the Christian schools in the future. To present Christianity and the Nativity not as an English tradition but a Pakistani one so that Christianity is not seen as a western religion. 

At the end the principle of another Missions school spoke about how Jesus being born in a stable was not the expected place for a King. She challenged us all to do the unexpected in the culture and live differently in the face of all the negative influences around.

A challenge for me too in how I live out my faith in the secular culture of the UK. What kind of Christianity do people around perceive my faith to be and how differently to the culture do I live. I left challenged...

Irfana a Brit.

After 5 years of waiting, filling out forms, passing an exam on British culture I would have probably failed and enduring a citizenship ceremony in a setting more akin to Dad's Army, Irfana is a Brit. We entered the Lambeth Town hall to Jerusalem being played in the background and left to Land of hope and glory. The stage was decorated with two big Union Jack flags with the Queens picture in the middle. As one of the only white faces there I held my head in shame but everybody else seemed to enjoy it. It is iinteresting that being British is still projected as mono cultural and stuck in the 1940's. Any way ceremony aside I want to congratulate Irfana on her new status as a Brit, and while not having to give up her Pakistani nationality shenow has better standing than me. Check out more pics on my flickr account

Youthwork The Conference

  My Colleague, Mike North and I ventured down to Eastbourne recently to attend and exhibit  for CMS at the Youthwork conference. It was a good time of making networks with various groups and agencies, as well as having time to see beachy head in all its glory.

We also used the weekend to get interviews for trax 16 and make Decembers podcast there. One highlight I had was interviewing Victor from Sierra Leone. He had escaped the civil war and has now lives in the Uk working in Chatham as a youth worker. You can hear some of his story and others by clicking on this trax16 link. Otherwise check out more pics here